There are very few people as beloved in the public’s memory as Princess Diana of Wales, who tragically died in a car accident at the age of 36 in a car accident. The anniversary of her death falls on August 31st, and Vogue seems to have made a decision to honor that anniversary by having Hailey Bieber (formerly Baldwin) recreate candid shots of Diana in a series of photographs for the magazine.
People are not happy.
The photoshoot has immediately drawn criticisms of being tasteless.
Many tweets in response have claimed, “This is so disrespectful,” and one twitter user added “Some people think so much of themselves.”
“Princess Diana, sweetie, I’m so sorry…” read several comments.
One fan responded to say, “I’d never thought I would say this but I’m happy Princess Diana is not here to see this mess.”
Several people were commenting on “the audacity” of Hailey and Vogue for the decision to do this shoot.
Some have even apologized to the late princess, writing, “I’m really sorry Princess Diana. You don’t deserve this level of disrespect.”
Not everyone is against the concept.
Some celebrity and model friends of Hailey’s have shared the photoshoot praising it, with Bella Hadid saying, “Princess HB,” and Laura Lentz from Hillsong Church which Hailey and her husband Justin Bieber famously attend adding, “This entire shoot is fire!”
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Hailey herself credits Diana as a fashion inspiration.
Writing on Instagram, the model said, “All credit and inspo to the amazingly beautiful and iconically stylish Princess Diana who I’ve looked to for style inspiration for as long as I can remember.”
“Thank you for leaving behind such an iconic fashion and style legacy.”
Her comments contained more support, like fellow model Gigi Hadid commenting, “I love this story so much!” and Emily Ratajkowski saying, “Yesssss,” with a fire emoji.
She even found some new fans from the shoot.
Some people praised how she managed to nail down Princess Diana’s “vibe,” and others commented that they looked alike.
Others praised the minimalism of the shoot.
This fan was impressed that Hailey could create such an iconic shoot wearing casual clothes, minimal makeup, and doing ordinary every day acts like walking or looking through her purse.
Some pointed out that people would be more accepting of a Diana tribute that wasn’t done by Hailey.
Some saw using a popular supermodel like Hailey Bieber who wasn’t alive for the real impact of Princess Diana’s life and death as the tasteless part, not the recreation of her photographs.
Others thought it totally missed the mark on why the photos of Diana were iconic in the first place.
Like Meghan Markle is now, Diana was often criticized for not behaving or dressing the way a member of the Royal Family should dress. Hailey Bieber is under no such scrutiny.
Not everyone agreed.
Others thought imitating paparazzi photos when the paparazzi were involved in Diana’s death was the tasteless part, and they may have a point. Diana passed away in a car crash while her vehicle was fleeing paparazzi.
Hailey’s social media has been a bit of a battleground lately.
She recently used her Instagram to clap back at a hater, although they weren’t referring to her Princess Diana look.
The commenter was questioning why she wasn’t in attendance at Justin Bieber’s latest performance.
Justin recently gave an emotional performance at his church, writing in the caption, “Sang at church last night. God is pulling me through a hard season. Having trust in Jesus at your worst times is the absolute hardest. But he is faithful to complete what he started.”
Justin then gave his wife a shoutout.
He wrote, “I also want to thank my wife for being such a huge support in my life through this season.” Despite this, some commenters were less than impressed.
One fan asked why Hailey wasn’t there to support him.
Hailey immediately set the record straight, responding that she was there to support him from backstage the entire performance.
